Underworld Player

News of the incidents at the orphanage was ultimately suppressed, and after receiving the bare minimum of coverage in the media, it quickly faded from public awareness.

Lin XiaoYi and Xia Wen had mainly suffered starvation and thirst as a result of their ordeal, but had no major injuries to speak of, and were soon discharged from the hospital.

The day Bai Zhi returned to school was the same day they were discharged, and they immediately took the next bus back to campus in the afternoon.

The girls' harrowing experience at the orphanage had given them an insight into the real world hidden beneath what they thought they knew, but Lin XiaoYi had always been a fan of the inexplicable and strange, so while her initial reaction had been in the vein of Ye Gong the Dragon-Lover*, she rallied quickly enough.

As for Xia Wen, the impact that the incident had on her was even greater.

The otaku in her who obsessed over anime, games and fanfiction now consumed the subject of urban legends and supernatural entities with gusto, just like Lin XiaoYi, with one exception—Xia Wen had much greater ambitions. She was going to acquire the power to defeat the supernatural entities.

"A date??" said a startled Lin XiaoYi, hiding behind the pillow in her arms.

"Duh, if you don't strike while the iron is hot, don't you know you're just letting someone else get in first?" came Xia Wen's reply, though her eyes and hands were fully engaged in the task of scanning the movie listings at the local cinemas.

"You remember how he visited us in the hospital and brought gifts? We can use the excuse that we're just returning the favor to invite him to watch a movie, while you two get to know each other better!"

"I'd love to do that, but do you think he'll accept?"

Lin XiaoYi looked bothered as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"You saw how it went the last time I tried setting up a lunch date. I looked like a fool! I even put in the effort to put on makeup and wear a nice dress, but it was all pearls before swine."

"A fool you are indeed, wet behind the ears! Just because he said to eat street food, doesn't mean you have to blindly obey and sit at a roadside stall with him. Don't you have any money of your own?"

Xia Wen whipped her head around, disappointment written in bold letters across her face.

"No worries, this time I'll be there with you. I've booked the tickets online; it'll be the midnight show tomorrow at the Sunshine Cinema. You two will be sitting together, while I'm in the seat across the aisle. Just follow my lead."

"Uh... what if he refuses? What'll he think about watching a movie at night..."

The campus belle looked worried.

"XiaoYi, opportunity knocks once in a lifetime."

Xia Wen walked to her friend on the bed and placed her hands on Lin XiaoYi's shoulders as she adopted a grave expression.

"Didn't you say you'd never give up? Where's all your confidence gone? Chin up, be brave! Don't be afraid to fail, loving hard is more your style!"

After a moments' thought, Lin XiaoYi reached for her own mobile phone. "....Shall I call?"

She had recently met Mu QianSe, from whom she had extorted Bai Zhi's number, but the week since had flown by without presenting her with any opportunity to call, until now.

"Go ahead, what are you waiting for? All I can do is point the way, since I'm not the one interested in him. You have to step up to the plate if you want to bat."

Xia Wen smirked as she snatched the pillow from Lin XiaoYi's arms and leaned back on her own bed.

"Be upfront about it, don't pussyfoot around with meaningless small talk. Once you get him to agree, you'll have won half the battle. Besides, we're footing the bill, so he can't use being broke as an excuse."

"Oh... Here goes nothing."

Lin XiaoYi nodded as her finger touched down on the "call" button.

———

That's weird, I could've sworn there was a Slave Contract among the auction listings earlier... Who would buy such a useless item?

Bai Zhi looked despondent as he browsed the Auction.

Operation Capture-the-Fake-Campus-Belle was definitely on his to-do list, but there was much to prepare. Since buying the Master Ball was most definitely out of his capabilities, the next best thing was to acquire the slightly lesser Slave Contract, but he had not expected that the item would be sold in the few hours since he spotted it.

The Slave Contract was a consumable item which allowed the user to forcibly enter into a contract with an individual weaker than themself, but the contract, once established, would drain the user's Sanity while active. Once the user's Sanity drops below a certain threshold, the contract expires, which severely limited its usefulness for the average Player.

Bai Zhi was counting on his unusual Sanity of "???" to make the Slave Contract uniquely useful to him. Other Players' Sanity values normally fell in the high teens, which gave them about thirty minutes or more of time with the Slave Contract, and what good was that?

Forget it, let's go for the Chains of Binding....

Hmm? Another phone number I don't recognize...

Bai Zhi sat up on the couch and narrowed his eyes at this new number that was calling him.

Ever since his transmigration, he had received basically no calls or messages on his phone. Each of the two times he had, however, had been messages from the impostor campus belle. And now, another strange number was calling him—it was obvious who it was. After all, who else could it be?

He was just planning her capture, and lo and behold, here she was. She just could not stay away. Though calling instead of texting like she usually did was a surprise...

"Watch a movie with you?"

Bai Zhi had a strange look on his face as he picked up the call and heard what the caller had to say.

The last time this impostor campus belle had asked him out, he'd made a fool of her on purpose, but she had returned, brazen and unfazed, asking him out to watch a movie. What's more, it was apparently on the pretext of returning the favor for that time he visited them in the hospital…

Ridiculous! When he went to the hospital, that campus belle couldn't even meet his gaze, but he was supposed to believe that the same girl was the one asking him out to the movies? A patently untenable conclusion.

If you'd pretended to be my ex-girlfriend, there'd be a slightly higher chance of me believing you, but you seem obsessed with using her identity for some reason...

Bai Zhi wondered if this impostor campus belle was really that foolish, or if she had some reason to be confident of taking the Shadowland Deed from him this time.

Before, he would have ignored her and refused the invitation outright, but now...

"Sure, no prob. Tomorrow, 9 p.m.?"

Leaning back on the couch, Bai Zhi gave his nonchalant reply.

"I'll be there on the dot."